the artnet auction
resultsa summary of
sotheby's impressionist
and modern sale, 11/12/96
by Stewart Waltzer

If Stephen Wynn, the chairman of Mirage
Resorts, the casino company, was shopping at
Sotheby's last night, he must have felt right at
home. It all seemed to be pretty much of a crap
shoot. With more than half of the lots failing to
exceed the low estimate, and with the house still
taking in close to 85 million at the hammer, it is more
than a bit like Las Vegas. The most touching
moment of the evening came in the midst of the
bidding for the late nineteenth century Barbie doll,
the Degas Danseuse. Simon de Pury had
massaged the bidding up to 10.8 million
and raising his voice at least two octaves
said with all the tenderness and concern
of a mother offering a Sunday roast: "What, no more?"
The estimates for many of the lots approached
ante mortem levels, which is to say, what things
once cost before the great fall. Well, they're not
back yet, Sotheby's certainly learned this
evening. The house owned lots fared no better
than the rest.
(P) = Passed lot (21). LOW (65%) = 1st
column shows work that did not exceed the low
estimate. MIDDLE (16%) = 2nd column shows
work that exceeded the low estimate but not the
high. HIGH (19%) = 3rd column shows work
that exceeded the high estimate.
*= Sotheby's owned lots. Total volume at the hammer:
$85,505,000.